


how the light gets in

by roadtripexpert



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, WandaVision (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Carol "fire fists" Danvers, Dialogue Heavy, F/F, Family Drama, Mentions of Cancer, Midnight Diners, POV Outsider, The Consequences of Missing your Daughter's Highschool Graduation, bad disguises, road trip but not really, who is surprised
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-14 20:02:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29547651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roadtripexpert/pseuds/roadtripexpert
Summary: Carol Danvers looks like shit. She’s got dark bags under her eyes (something Jimmy did not know was possible for an ageless superhero). More than anything, she looks miserable, tired. Jimmy wonders what could have happened, or maybe what happened before all the super-fighting that’s just now catching up with her. From the looks of it, that thing might be Monica Rambeau.
Relationships: Carol Danvers & Monica Rambeau, Carol Danvers/Maria Rambeau, Monica Rambeau & Jimmy Woo
Comments: 8
Kudos: 181





	how the light gets in

They’re silent on the ride away from the hex. The original fear of being swept up in the expansion has diminished and now Jimmy’s wishing that the military grade radio didn’t only have three channels. Static. Static. And something that sounded faintly like circus music. Jimmy turned it off almost immediately. 

They’ve switched driver's seats a couple of times. They do a gas station run to grab some caffeinated drinks, snacks, two baseball hats and two oversized sweaters. They would have to work as disguises for now. They’re not sure if they’re being followed or watched or have their pictures plastered on the internet yet, and they’re not taking any chances. 

Regroup and move on. Jimmy thinks, then feels a pang for Darcy. Guilt maybe. Also she would have probably made this car ride a thousand times more bearable. 

About three minutes after they switch a second time something starts ringing by Monica’s feet. 

“Hey, is that you?” Jimmy says, not taking his eyes off the road.

“Shit. Shit.” Monica fishes out a clunky looking SAT phone and stares at it for a moment, like if she glares at it hard enough it’ll stop ringing.

“Are you gonna answer that? Because, unless you know who it is I wouldn’t recommend it.”

“No. I know who it is,” Monica says through gritted teeth, and picks up the phone. 

“This isn’t a good time,” Monica says immediately. No greeting

Jimmy looks over at her. Even in the faint glow of passing street lamps he can see that Monica is at a high level of emotion. What emotion he can’t tell.

“No. I know. But—“

Jimmy can’t hear the person on the other line other than he thinks it’s a woman. 

“You know I’m working…..No, nothing I can’t handle.” 

Jimmy rolls his eyes at that. Like they aren’t on the run and also dealing with forces unknown to the universe. 

“What,” Monica snaps. Loudly. Jimmy tries and fails not to start, and jerks the wheel a bit. Monica looks over and mouths an apology.

“No it’s just, as I said, not a good time…..I know that.” The person on the other side is saying something that's making Monica look in need of a full body massage. 

“Well, you could act like it!” A long long pause. Monica takes a deep breath. 

“Just tell me where you are.”

She hangs up soon after that, looking like she wants to punch something. “Come on. Let’s switch again. Change of plans.”

“What kind of change.”

“Change as in we make a pitstop at Lenny’s Diner off of the 45, thirty minutes tops and we might be leaving with backup.”

“Wait really?”

Monica shrugs. Then wipes a tear that was falling unnoticed.

Jimmy decides not to ask any more questions.  
  


“Is that…?” Jimmy starts to ask.

Captain Marvel is sitting in the back booth with her hat tugged low over her eyes. If they hadn’t just been talking about her at the base camp Jimmy might not have recognized her. But he had done a cursory google a few days ago to see if he could find any connection between her and his new coworker. 

Monica betrayed too much emotion in her reaction to Captain Marvel for it to be a normal superhero grudge.

Carol Danvers looks like shit. She’s got dark bags under her eyes (something Jimmy did not know was possible for an ageless superhero). More than anything, she looks miserable, tired. Jimmy wonders what could have happened, or maybe what happened before all the super-fighting that’s just now catching up with her. From the looks of it, that thing might be Monica Rambeau.

“This is who we’re meeting?” Jimmy asks, when Monica sees Carol and makes towards her with the air of someone going to war. 

“Yes,” Monica says without looking at him. 

She slides into the booth across from Danvers and Jimmy sits gingerly next to her. He’s not forgetting the whole tab on her Wikipedia labeled “fire fists”.

“Carol,” she says. And Captain Marvel’s face crumples. 

They just look at each other. Monica with a practiced ambivalence. Carol with an intensity Jimmy feels the need to look away from. 

She hasn’t even seemed to notice his presence. 

“You look good,” Carol manages to say. Her voice cracks through it but there’s a ghost of a smile flickering on her face. 

Monica is silent. For how much she was talking in the car Jimmy is surprised. Carol fiddles with the cuff of her sweatshirt. “So you’ve heard about the anomaly. That’s why you called?” Monica finally says. Her voice leaves no room for any other subject. 

“Please, Monica. I just want to talk to you.”

“And here I am. Talking to you.”

“Honey…”

“No. No. You don’t get to— you weren’t here!” Monica scrubs furiously at her eyes then turns to Jimmy. “Let’s go. This was a bad idea.”

“Okay,” Jimmy says. He doesn’t say: _A_ _re you sure? Because her laser hands would probably be very helpful no matter what your strange and tense relationship with her is._ He just slides out of the booth, and nods to Danvers. 

“Big fan, Captain.”

She looks at him for the first time and says nothing. Okay. 

Monica is already halfway out of the diner and Jimmy jogs to meet her as she bursts out the door into the unseasonably warm autumn night. “Hey, you gonna tell me why you left Captain Marvel in there looking like a kicked puppy? I know you have some sort of grudge but that was…weird.”

She looks at him like she would rather do anything else. Then sighs and looks at the ground. “She’s my mom,” she says quietly. 

“What.”

“My mom. Married to my other mom. Helped raise me.”

“Oh.” There’s really not much else to say to that. “Isn’t that a kind of….an important thing that’s missing from your file?”

“Hmmm? Oh, Fury scrubbed my file of anything Carol Danvers related a long time ago.”

“Fury.” 

She finally looks at him with a wry kind of smile. “Family friend.” 

“Wait,” Jimmy says. Looking back into the bright diner, and Carol in the corner, looking out at them. “So you’re leaving your _mom_ alone looking like a kicked puppy?” 

Her smile wanes. “It’s complicated.”

“Yes, you’ve made that very clear.” 

“Well it’s my business, so no need to get sanctimonious on me.”

Jimmy snorts and kicks some gravel up and pointedly doesn’t look back at her 

“So, is this the first time you’ve seen each other since…?”

“Oh. No. We’ve talked once. It didn’t go….great. I mean. I had just got back. And I was so angry.”

Jimmy raises an eyebrow. “And you’re not now?”

“Now’s different.”

“Not to be, a dick or anything but we could really use—“

“Yeah I know I know. I’m just making her wait.”

“Dude.”

“Uh huh. Try having your mom miss every graduation you’ve had.”

They stand for just a bit more, Jimmy shuffling a bit, but unwilling to be Monica really know how nervous he is about being on the lam.

Then Monica takes a deep breath and then waves to where Carol is watching them. Carol stands up too quickly and upsets her coffee.

When she comes outside, still wiping a napkin over a large stain on her shirt, the two women just look at each other for a moment. “I’m sorry,” Monica says, without sounding it. “I…There’s a situation. I’m stressed and I’m taking it out on you.”

“Yeah, well,” Carol says, looking a bit more human away from the glaring diner lights. “You’ve got plenty to be mad at me about.”

“Oh fuck that.” Monica says. “I don’t want to hear any more self-aggrandizing martyr bullshit coming out of your mouth.” 

Carol looks scolded. “Yes, ma’am. 

Another awkward silence. 

Carol tries again. “I know this isn’t a great time for it, but I know you want…or wanted to see more of me and I thought since I knew you were working here I could say hello. I don’t know. Make you look cool in front of all your friends.”

Monica snorts. Carol ignores her. 

“But…it’s more complicated now, isn’t it?” 

“We’re fugitives from the law,” Jimmy points out, in what he thinks might be a helpful nudge to get in the car and get going. 

Both of them just look at him. “What. We are.” 

“So, talk in the car?” Carol says.

“I’ll drive,” Jimmy agrees before either of them can argue. 

**Author's Note:**

> Watch me add Monica's chapter in either two weeks or two years. Anyways. Hope you enjoy!


End file.
